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The Imperial Bed-Chamber
'The Imperial Bed-Chamber' ''' '''When the future Emperor of Russia, Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich met the young Prinzessin Alix von Hessen und bei Rhein it was instantaneous love at first sight. He would have no other woman's hand but hers, and made it clear to his parents, who were the current Tsar and Empress of Russia (Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna) that if he could not have Prinzessin Alix as his wife, he would never be happy. So it was settled, the two love birds got what they had wished for, only it happened at a very bad time. The future Emperor's father fell ill with the Nephritis Disease, and died at the family's Summer residence at Livadia on the 1st of November in 1894. His death shocked many, and a great mourning swept over the Imperial Family and all of Russia. As his last days grew closer, Nicholas' father realised that things needed to be decided on, and he allowed for the go-ahead of his son's engagement to the german-born Prinzessin Alix. Before his sudden death, the former Tsar gave his soon-to-be daughter-in-law his blessings, and the Imperial couple's wedding soon followed the mourning and funerary processions of the future Tsar's deceased father. When Nicholas Alexandrovich became the Emperor, and his new wife became the Empress, they both decided together that the Alexander Palace was out of all the Imperial residences they had seen, the most charming, practical, and beautifully-built palace of them all. The nobility and Russian society, and even the Tsar's own relatives scorned the Imperial couple for their choice of the Alexander Palace when they could have had a residence such as the massive Catherine Palace, which was the latter's neighbour at Tsarskoe Selo. Many argued that the new Tsar and his wife could have had the sprawling grounds and accompanying palace at Pavlovsk, or even the Palace at Peterhof with it's opulent fountain cascade. But the Imperial couple were set, and moved in to their new home. It wasn't until 1905, that the Imperial couple a year after the birth of their one and only son, Tsesarevich Alexei moved permanently to the Alexander Palace after the dreadful, and horrific events of Bloody Sunday. The Palace, saw extensive re-decorating and building of new spaces. One of these re-decorated spaces was the Imperial Bed-Chamber. It was the second of the Empress' private apartments, even though both the Imperial couple used it to sleep in together, which during the time was rarely seen as most royal/imperial couples slept in separate rooms, and sometimes completely separate wings from one another. This room, was left over from the Marriage of Tsar Alexander II's daughter Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna to Queen Victoria's second-eldest son; Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh It was established by Maria's father as part of a honeymoon suite for her, and her new husband Alfred. Having not been touched for more then twenty years, and after negotiations with her husband, and the Court Decorator Roman F. Meltzer it was decided to leave this room as it was. The Empress thought it a waste to create an entire space out of something already there, and she was a very frugal person with money, and expenses at best. Everything that was original to the room, the furniture which was made in the 1870's and the delicately crafted arcade that ran across the back of the room were kept, but painted in a cheerful white enamel to make the room brighter. All of the furniture's upholstery was replaced, as well as the draperies, portieres, arcade and the two large windows looking out from the space. All of the upholstery was in a delicate shiny chintz pattern, with flowers in wreath motives, tied together with pink ribbons. Heavy cords with elaborate tassels were used to open, and close the draperies of the arcade, and over the doors, windows, etc... The back wall was hung with a light pink fabric, that also lined the backing of the arcade's draperies. On this wall hung hundreds of different sized ikons, gifts given the the Imperial couple, and what have you graced this wall. A small private oratory was built on the right side, where the Empress could pray privately without leaving the privacy and comfort of her Bed-Chamber. Concealed behind the opposite wall was a small water closet, which was used very rarely as the Empress had a more convenient bathe-chamber connected to her Dressing Room, which was accessed through one of the sets of double doors of the Imperial Bed-Chamber. The other set was one of two entrances into the Mauve (Lilac) Boudoir, which was Her Imperial Majesty's favourite room. Many found the overall pattern to be very busy and quite frankly painful to the naked eye, when they first encountered it. The Empress' idea was to give the effect of a quiet and quaint garden, with natural light streaming through the very large windows. Two ikon lampdka in the shape of doves were continuously lit with rose oil, up until the Imperial Family's departure from Tsarskoe Selo in August of 1917. The smell lingered, and visitors even long after the Imperial Family had left said the scent of roses was still very-much overpowering. The Imperial couple's bed was made up of two gilt-bronze twin beds which were pushed together to make a large double bed. Though sometimes Their Imperial Majesties did sleep in one large bed here, most of the time the double-bed was used. The top mattress was covered in deer skin, it's sheets made of the finest linen and cotton, carrying the Empress' monogram and a special marking that indicated that they belonged to the Imperial Bed-Chamber at the Alexander Palace. During the day, the twin beds were made up with elaborate coverings of silk, lace and crochet piled with large pillows. When night fell, they were made up with soft coverings, and favourite pillows. On the room's right wall, the Empress had a large collection of things she had brought back from a trip to Italy with her brother (Grand Duke Ernest Ludwig von Hessen und bei Rhein) before her marriage to her husband; Nicholas II. This said trip took her to Florence and she had a wonderful, happy and carefree-time there. Her brother took her to all of the famous landmarks, including the Uffizi Gallery. She also saw the Convent at San Marco and Fra Angelico's paintings there. The impressions that the Empress had gotten from this trip effected her deeply, and continued to inspire her throughout her lifetime. Near the two large draped windows, were a vitrine which contained many of her Fabergé pieces, including some of her Imperial Easter eggs. Alongside the vitrine was another cabinet containing gifts from her beloved children. After the Imperial Family's departure on the 1st, of August in 1917 the Alexander Palace became a museum honouring the last Romanovs. The spaces inside were kept as close as possible, as if the Imperial Family had never left but gone on a Summer retreat. The Imperial Bed-Chamber was part of this museum which operated right up until the beginning of the Second World War, which saw extensive damages to many of the former Imperial residences. Many were declared hopeless losses, but somehow the Alexander Palace remained largely unscathed. When the War ended, the museum curators and workers came back to survey the damage realising the Alexander Palace to have survived largely intact with little or no damage they had plans to re-store it to it's former glory as it was before the War. Josef Stalin, the then dictatorial leader of the Soviet Union threw the all of the museum's hopes out of the window, and called for the complete destruction of the remaining interiors of the Palace. It was made into a generic Russian Museum, leaving very little trace behind of the actual rooms that had once been there. Today the former Imperial Bed-Chamber is a combination of movie-made props from a movie having been filmed there in the late 1990's, and several original pieces like the draperies over the window, and two protected panels of the wall chintz covering to give a feel of the interior decorations of this space. The Imperial Bed-Chamber, as it appears today Mama, and Papa's former Bedchamber (3).png|The left-side of the former Imperial Bed-Chamber as it appears today. Mama, and Papa's former Bedchamber (4).png|The left-side corner of the former Imperial Bed-Chamber, with movie-made props, and tons of ikons. Mama, and Papa's former Bedchamber (5).png|A back-drop of what once was, the former Imperial Bed-Chamber. Mama, and Papa's former Bedchamber (6).png|Movie-made furniture, against a back-drop of the real interior. Mama, and Papa's former Bedchamber (7).png|The left-side of the former Imperial Bed-Chamber, where the Empress' small oratory was kept. Now only movie-made props, and a split-wall of ikons are left. Mama, and Papa's former Bedchamber (9).png|One of two walls of ikons, split apart.